Strategies, tips, how to's and best practices for online video publishers

You know who claims to know content marketing these days? Everybody who likes money, that’s who.

What if there was a way to separate the veteran communicator from the Johnny Come Lately?

So that in the midst of this content marketing gold rush, clients and hiring managers can begin identify the pros who know how to think about marketing, conceive strategic content, create the right media, craft compelling messages that actually resonate with key audiences.

You know, the pros who have been doing content marketing all along—as opposed to the person for whom “content” is just a lucrative new vocabulary word.

“Honestly, the industry needs this,” writes Content Marketing Institute founder Joe Pulizzi. “This is all in the natural progression of a growing industry. “Showcasing the best that the industry can offer, both projects and agencies, will help us get to where we need to go.”

So enter your best work in the Content Marketing Awards—by the May 17 deadline— and prove you belong.

Or get off the bandwagon.

David Murray is program chairman for the Content Marketing Awards, and editor of ContentWise. For two decades David has written and spoken widely on corporate, political and personal communication issues. He’s editor of Vital Speeches of the Day and his writing has appeared in Advertising Age, The New York Times and The Atlantic

A couple of decades ago we couldn’t even imagine our lives without TV .It had its indisputable reasons. The majority of population got the vast amount of information from TVs. We were learning about new products only by watching the ads concerning the company, we were watching movies, cartoons, TV shows and even when we liked them we had the opportunity to record them in order to watch them later hundreds of times, show them to the others and enjoy them every time we saw them .We thought that this is the top and nothing could be better.

But later the internet appeared and we betrayed our best friend –TV, leaving it alone with elderly and found a new one – Internet, which enabled us to use websites that showed us everything online. We could watch anything we wanted at any time. Gradually the social media developed and the most popular online platform YouTube was launched in 2005. Since then arguments are held- which one is better TV or YouTube. Of course the majority of users are young and they will assuredly say that YouTube is better and will give their reasons.

The time factor plays a predominating role in this argument. YouTube is available at any time you want to watch. If you are away it is available everywhere you want to watch, just find the wireless connection and finally it is available on your cell phone. NO restrictions are put there and anyone cat enter here and watch videos according to their interest. Everything is sorted out here. Any member of your family can watch a video and get the information he requires from YouTube.

You want to entertain your children and don’t know how- here it comes to help-find all the cartoons of the world and let them watch it successively. Want to listen to your favorite singer’s latest song and watch the music video, here again Youtube comes to help. Have just got an interesting video and want to share it with your friends-post it on Youtube, the more views you get the more famous you are. Want to know anything about your favorite product- here the ads will be found.

And what do you think you lose doing it? Nothing, you don’t even need to pay money, just sign up here and add and watch as many videos as you can. So with these simple explanations I assure you that YouTube is better, faster and more qualified than TV.

Guest author bio: Roman runs London based social media marketing company Frozzo. His mission is to help and lead people to get real Twitter followers, YouTube views and Facebook fans.

The do-it-yourself automotive trend is growing every day, and especially in a down economy, people want to save money by installing performance parts themselves so they can save hundreds of dollars on labor. There is no better way for a manufacture of performance parts to connect with their potential customers than to create videos such as the one below that give you a background and step by step installation guide so you feel comfortable doing the job yourself. For example, in the video below, Mishimoto, a brand popular for radiators and cooling parts, demonstrates how to install their parts into a Subaru Impreza WRX.

It also helps that the video has a professional race car driver, Matt Waldin, to give credibility to the brand and entice customers to continue watching the video. The video goes step-by-step in explaining not only the benefits of the part, but what tools you need to do the job so you can be sure you have everything necessary to get the job done.

Some customers like to make their own product videos, and they gain a following and recognition on automotive forums of their knowledge and experimentation of the products. Lots of times, especially with newer cars, people like to hold off on buying parts until someone in the community buys it first and then reviews it for quality, ease of installation and performance gains.

Some how-to’s can get very technical, and some customers even do mechanical comparisons on a dynamometer to determine effectiveness of parts, such as a comparison of the difference between a short ram intake and a cold air intake. Information such as this isn’t so straight forward, so there needs to be testing done that can only be given credibility with a video posted online, or dyno sheets that show power gains. As customers get more savvy, online videos are going to be playing a bigger part in the automotive performance market.

Businesses today rely on a number of things to help them to advertise their products or services. With real estate, it is all about location. With online businesses, it is all about visibility. In order to engage your website visitors and keep them coming back, you have to give them something that intrigues them. Online video is an excellent way to impress website visitors and keep them coming back for more.

Following is a list of 5 ways that online video can help you to increase your business.

1) Using online video can help you to make consumers more aware of your brand. The first step in increasing your business is to make yourself known. Video is all about making you visible. Creating a video that keeps your audience interested will help to move them through the sales process.

2) Video can also help you to build trust. People typically tend to not do business with people that they do not know. Video will help you to build a relationship with your website visitors and allow them to get to know you, making them much more likely to buy from you.

3) You can also use online video to help you with training. You can train your customers on how to properly use your services or products.

4) Major brands have been using video for some time to increase product sales. Having a video on your site will show your customers that you are serious about your brand and that you care enough about them to give them a better user experience.

5) Finally, you can use video to be in more than one place at the same time. You can send sales associates or executives to trade shows to promote your products without ever having to leave the office. You can save on travel expenses and give your staff more free time to work on other projects at the same time.

Video has been proven to be an effective tool in increasing conversion rates online. You should note however that a bad video is going to do just the opposite. When you decide that it is time to join the major brands in online video, ensure that you are providing your website visitors with a professionally produced video that explains your business message and presents you as an expert in your field.

This article was written by Vidify, specialists in the provision of online video production services at a national level. Visit them at vidify.co.uk today.

If you are an automotive enthusiast, you will quickly recognize the phrase “Hellaflush“. It has become synonymous with modified cars and trucks that have aftermarket wheels that are flush with the fender. This might not seem like a big deal to the average Joe, but to the auto enthusiast, especially import enthusiasts, Hellaflush has become a trend that looks like it’s here to stay.

Online Videos posted to YouTube, Vimeo and others, show the trend at work that drives up interest, excitement, and viral videos. Here is an example of a video dedicated to the Hellaflush movement that has been posted to YouTube:

As you can see from the above video, this automotive trend is very popular, and is catching on every day. Online Videos like these give inspiration to average enthusiasts to turn their cars into something special.

Getting your car Hellaflush requires a lot of research to ensure that the wheels and tires you purchase are the correct offset to make it sit just right when lowered. The tires also come in to play as each tire manufacture has different tire designs and this can make or break the stance of your car. The suspension is also very important and needs to give your car proper clearance. Popular suspension setups such as KSport Kontrol Pro Coilovers and Blackworks Coilovers have been used to create optimal stances. Seeing a video of the same car you have that is hellaflush gives you creative ideas on creating that look for your car or truck.

About the author –Alex Polonsky

Alex Polonsky is an automotive enthusiast that blogs over at APtuned (http://www.aptuned.com/blog/) where he talks about the latest trends in automotive high performance. Alex has been in the automotive industry since 1999 and has a passion for online video, technology, and social media. Alex is also co-founder of VidCompare.